Lust for power

Kanata wandered around Tokyo without purpose, just like Yuto did when she died the first time. Her life no longer had any meaning. She had tried everything to save her brother, but every victory came with a price to pay. She even considered suicide, but that would have been disrespectful to his sacrifice.

Zetsu: "Your libido is showing."

Lust: "Give me a break. I love humans, you know? I need to taste them, at least in my mind."

Zetsu: "I'm a bit jealous."

Someone stood before them. A blonde woman with long hair, dressed in silver medieval armor. She held a huge shield and a broadsword. Her eyes were blue. She exuded an energy of justice, mercy, and warriorship.

Warrior: "Stop right there! You're disturbing the civilians!"

Lust smiled at her, but not in a weird way like he usually does.

Lust: "It's first come, first served, right?"

Zetsu: "Yeah. Our top priority is Kanata, but we can't leave potential vessels for other deities."

Lust: "Good. If you don't mind, I'll go have some fun."

The warrior positioned herself to fight.

Warrior: "I am one of the Level 7 heroes, Sunshield! If you apologize for your insolence, I'll let you go."

Lust lowered his head in respect.

Lust: "I am the God of Lust, specializing in support and utility. I have heard about the hero association. It is an honor to fight with one of the strongest heroes."

Sunshield: "Is that your answer? Very well, let's fight somewhere empty."

She also bowed.

Lust: "I'm afraid there's no need for that."

He took out two daggers from his waist. The handles were green, while the blades were pink.

Sunshield: "If you hurt any civilian, I will show no mercy."

Lust: "Relax, I'm just getting rid of them peacefully."

He raised one of the daggers and pointed it downwards, piercing the air in a circle. Then, he thrust the blade against the pink circle that formed, stretching it downwards like a trampoline. A pink circle appeared below each civilian and sucked them in.

Sunshield: "This is utter trangression!"

Lust: "They're alive in another dimension. I will return them to their normal lives regardless of whether you win this fight or not."

She pointed her sword at him with hostility.

Sunshield: "Regardless of whether you're lying or not, you deserve life in prison! Release them now!"

Lust: "Didn't you want an empty place? I only left people strong enough to withstand our battle."

Sunshield: "It doesn't matter! This city will be destroyed if we fight here!"

Lust: "Oh, so you're worried about material damage. Relax, everything can be rebuilt with time!"

Lust charged forward, striking her shield with her dagger, causing it to vibrate and releasing a powerful shockwave. The shield reflected the sunlight, creating another massive explosion that engulfed at least a hundred meters. She was thrown kilometers away, passing through hundreds of buildings and stopping after crashing into the wall of the guild’s main building. It was a giant black cube with several smaller cubes in the center of the city.

He lunged towards her, who jumped out of the hole in the wall. His body slammed into the seemingly indestructible fortress, leaving only remains. She landed on the ground, thinking about a plan. She felt an intimidating presence lurking around her. She looked everywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen. She swung her greatsword in the air. Lust was hit somehow. His body went flying into the sky.

She spotted him and immediately jumped to cut him in half. He blocked the blow with one of his daggers. Once again, he was struck, sending him flying towards the nearest mountain and crashing through it. While in the air, he summoned a portal behind him and teleported beneath Sunshield. He grabbed her leg and crushed it. She kicked the ground with her other leg so hard that the entire city felt an earthquake.

He disappeared again. Or not. She saw something coming from kilometers away, right in front of her. He was tearing through buildings with the speed of a fighter jet. She managed to hit him with her sword, without needing to use her accurate attack power. The sword reflected the sunlight, causing a massive explosion.

He came from behind with such speed that she only had less than a second to react. She turned around and aimed her shield at him.

Sunshield: "Huh? Not even a scratch? Who am I dealing with?"

As he approached, she felt something odd. She had never have to fight something, or rather, someone, so powerful. He was toying with her, with the premise of training his new vessel. But she didn't know that last part. She was trying her best, even if she had to die.

Sunshield: "Is this how I die? My shield will block his attack, right?"

As his dagger approached her shield, he suddenly disappeared. He didn't seem to have done it on purpose.

Kanata flew while holding his own body. He elbowed her in the back, pushing her into the ocean below them and causing such an impact that the ocean instantly vaporized. What had been the bottom of the sea was now the surface.

Lust: "Ho..."

Kanata: "Who are you? Why are you attacking my city?"

Lust: "I'm a friend of Zetsu's. I'm pretty sure your little brother asked her for help a while back."

Her eyes widened. She felt an immense anger rising inside her.

Lust: "We were looking for you. But we stopped to collect some new vessels-"

In less than a millisecond, her hand was already gripping his head with crushing force. She ran past everything in front of her. A few milliseconds later, she had completed dozens of laps around the Earth. Then, she kicked him into space.

Zetsu: "She reacted quickly enough. Now, I have to take care of some lesser prey."

Someone grabbed her from behind, lifting her backwards and slamming her head first onto the ground. Zetsu quickly got up. Apparently, there was no one there.

Zetsu: "Come on, do you really think that simple invisibility can fool me?"

Nobody appeared. Zetsu grabbed the person's neck, lifting them off the ground.

Zetsu: "I'm not bluffing. I can sense your presence from universes away."

The person undid their invisibility. She was a ninja, dressed in a black uniform and mask. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and was also black. She grabbed Zetsu's hands desperately, trying to break free.

Zetsu: "So you're a ninja. We have similar coloring, don't you think?"

Ninja: "Release me, you wretch!"

Zetsu slammed her body into the ground, while holding her neck. She bent down, bringing her mouth close to the ninja's ears, but without looking at her.

Zetsu: "You're gonna be my toy for the next few minutes. I'm Zetsu, the Goddess of Despair. What's your name, my pet?"

Ninja: "I'll kill you, you maniac!"

Zetsu pressed down on her neck with increasing force, digging her fingers in. The ninja panicked, just as Zetsu wanted.

Ninja: "Revon, Level 6 hero!"

Zetsu: "There you go."

Zetsu released her. Less than a millisecond later, Revon kicked her head with immense force, sending her crashing into several buildings. She stood up inside an office.

Zetsu: "I need to suppress my powers, otherwise this will be boring."

She felt a presence lurking on that floor. She forced herself not to see her opponent, giving her a chance. A punch landed on her face and then on her stomach. The invisible ninja mounted her back and used her legs to strangle Zetsu. Then, she elbowed her several times in the head, releasing shockwaves powerful enough to make the building collapse. Zetsu quickly grabbed her leg and spun her around, releasing her after gaining speed.

The building fell apart. Revon managed to land another blow to her face. Zetsu tried to grab her, but the ninja kept dodging her attacks and striking her from blind spots.

Zetsu: "I'm taking it too easy. I have to break her to make her stronger."

Zetsu punched Revon in the stomach. The ninja's invisibility faded involuntarily as she coughed up blood. She grabbed Zetsu's arm, preventing her from flying away. Then she kicked the goddess in the head, pushing her a few meters away. Revon was injured and panting, which was unusual for her, since she had nearly infinite stamina.

Revon: "This isn't working... I stayed at Level 6 because I didn't want to draw attention to my master, but... a Level 7 would be no match for her."

Zetsu: "You're not strong, just agile. For a human, you're still impressive, but you're not entertaining me. Do you know what that means?"

Revon: "She's gonna kill me... I failed as a disciple, but I must at least contact my master... he can fix anything..."

Zetsu: "I'll force you to become stronger. Break your limiter, like a certain bald guy. To do that, I'll have to hurt you."

Revon: "I have to escape... I have to ask Gojirou-sama to use his power and reverse everything... I have to..."

Suddenly, a huge turquoise Chinese dragon swallowed Zetsu, destroying all the buildings in its path.